The bank assessed 67 developed, emerging and frontier markets on vulnerability to the physical impacts of climate change, sensitivity to extreme weather events, exposure to energy transition risks and ability to respond to climate change.
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Govt may ease green norms to boost affordable housing

In its effort to make â€˜housing for all by 2022â€™ a reality, the Centre proposed to ease green norms for the building and construction sector, under which projects up to 50,000 sq metres will not require prior â€˜environmental clearance.â€™
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Concept note of this plan, accessed by Greenpeace India under RTI, talks about tackling pollution from various sources. It identifies power, transport, industry, residential and agriculture sectors as the key contributors making air toxic.
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Solar Alliance meet: India seeks place in the Sun

With 28 countries who have ratified the ISA treaty in attendance, the meet has snowballed from an initially modest event to a big ticket one which will see an eclectic mix of geographies lying between the two tropics.
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Diu becomes first UT to run 100% on solar power

In just three years, Diu has made rapid progress in solar power generation. The Union territory has an area of just 42 square kilometres. Despite the scarcity of land, solar power plants have been installed over more than 50 acres.
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Smog is generally associated with cars, but since the 1970s regulators have pushed automakers to invest in technologies that have substantially reduced VOC emissions from automobiles. So the rising share of air pollution caused by things like pesticides and hair products is partly an effect of cars getting cleaner.
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Surgeon to gift artificial limb to tiger with amputated paw

â€œThe procedure has been done for dogs and elephants around the world but not for tigers,â€ said orthopaedic surgeon Dr Sushrut Babhulkar, who â€œadoptedâ€ the eight-year-old tiger, Sahebrao, currently living at the Gorewada Rescue Centre in Nagpur.
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China drawing up new 2018-2020 crackdown on smog

China's previous action plan against smog, covering 2013-2017, forced the smog-prone Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to take action to reduce concentrations of hazardous particles known as PM2.5 by more than 25 percent.
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India hits 20GW solar capacity milestone

According to the latest India research report by green energy market tracker Mercom Capital, the utility-scale cumulative installations now stand at approximately 18.4 gw, with rooftop solar accounting for another 1.6 gw.
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Hanoi enjoyed just 38 days of clean air in 2017: Report

Annual average air pollution in Hanoi in 2017 was also four times higher than those deemed acceptable by the World Health Organization's air quality guidelines, according to a report by the Green Innovation and Development Centre (GreenID).
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Earthâ€™s long-term warming trend continued in 2017, with average surface temperatures only slightly below the record heat of the previous year. But unlike 2016, last yearâ€™s warmth was not aided by El NiÃ±o, the Pacific weather pattern that is usually linked to record-setting heat. Nasa ranked 2017 the second-warmest year, after 2016.
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Orangutans use plants for muscle pain relief

The Borneo based apes chew leaves of the Dracaena cantleyi plant to create a white lather, which they then rub onto to their bodies. This is the first report of self-medication in an Asian ape, and also the first evidence for the use of anti-inflammatory medication in animals.
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New home in New Year: South African drug to tranquillise Dudhwa rhinos

The New Year promises to be a happy one for the rhinoceros at Dudhwa.Some of them might get to shift to a new home, thanks to South Africa.
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Bali declares 'garbage emergency' amid sea of waste

The problem has grown so bad that officials in Bali last month declared a "garbage emergency" across a six-kilometre (3.7-mile) stretch of coast that included popular beaches Jimbaran, Kuta and Seminyak.
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Starfish making comeback after syndrome killed millions

Starfish are making a comeback on the West Coast, four years after a mysterious syndrome killed millions of them. From 2013 to 2014, Sea Star Wasting Syndrome hit sea stars from British Columbia to Mexico. The starfish would develop lesions and then disintegrate, their arms turning into blobs of goo.
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Highlighting discrepancies in carrying out compensatory afforestation across the country, leading forest rights groups and tribal organisations have submitted a petition to a parliamentary panel demanding repeal or amendment of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act to safeguard interests of 200 million forest dwellers who depend on forests for their livelihood.
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